Growth form evolution and hybridization in Senecio (Asteraceae) from the high equatorial Andes.

ABSTRACT: Changes in growth forms frequently accompany plant adaptive radiations, including páramo-a high-elevation treeless habitat type of the northern Andes. We tested whether diverse group of Senecio inhabiting montane forests and páramo represented such growth form changes. We also investigated the role of Andean geography and environment in structuring genetic variation of this group. We sampled 108 populations and 28 species of Senecio (focusing on species from former genera Lasiocephalus and Culcitium) and analyzed their genetic relationships and patterns of intraspecific variation using DNA fingerprinting (AFLPs) and nuclear DNA sequences (ITS). We partitioned genetic variation into environmental and geographical components. ITS-based phylogeny supported monophyl

SUBMITTER: Duskova E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5574811 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature